• Players Championship

Hawkins breezes past Greene for Preston title

ESPN staff
March 29, 2014
Barry Hawkins was fortunate to even feature at the Players Championship Grand Final © Getty Images
Enlarge

Barry Hawkins cruised to the second ranking title of his professional career with a 4-0 victory over good friend Gerard Greene at the Players Championship Grand Final in Preston.

Earlier on Saturday, Hawkins shocked Judd Trump to set up an all-Kent final with Greene, who had continued his impressive run at the Guild Hall with a 4-2 victory against the in-form Marco Fu.

However, it proved to be a step too far for the world No.66 as Hawkins rallied to an impressive win and £100,000 top prize. Greene has been the tournament's surprise package since rallying from 3-0 down to beat Anthony Hamilton 4-3 in the quarter-finals, while Hawkins was lucky to even be at the event - he only qualified due to Stuart Bingham's triumph at the last Asian Tour event.

Hawkins wasted little time worrying in the final, however, as breaks of 117 and 75 lifted him into a two-frame lead within 20 minutes of the session. Greene had not registered a single point on the board.

Greene finally made his presence known with a 34 in the third, but a missed black allowed Hawkins back to the table. He made a clearance of 50 to move within a frame of the title.

Visits of 30 and 22 put Hawkins in prime position in the fourth and when Greene narrowly missed a red, he returned to put the match to bed and his hands on the trophy.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd
ESPN staff Close

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices